Just the Way You Are
by misszelda3290
Summary: Keegan/Merrick fluff One-shot. Keegan's retained a little bit of body fat and feels gross. Merrick thinks it's adorable. K for like 2 words.


_Eeep! I've been meaning to write something fluffy with Keegan and Merrick. Only seemed fitting. In my mind at least xD Enjoy! _

_Nope, none of these characters are mine! Everything goes to Infinity Ward!_

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"Why won't you go away? I've been doing nothing but working my ass off and eating rabbit food for the past month!" Keegan whined while angrily poking at the bit of fat that remained around his midsection.

There wasn't much of it, but a visible layer was there. Keegan was in no way what could be considered fat; he was perfectly fit, but had a little extra padding.

"Hey Keegan! Thought you were just changing! You're taking longer than a girl!" Rorke called out from behind the door waiting with the others.

The remaining of the Ghosts, Captain Gabriel Rorke, Lieutenant Elias Walker, and Sergeant Thomas Merrick all sat in the rec room waiting on the fourth member of the group. They had no missions going on so the Ghosts decided to leave the base and go out to eat; something done only on a rare occasion so they try to make the most out of it. If only Keegan would hurry the hell up.

"We're going to leave your ass if you don't get moving, Russ!" Rorke hollered out, sounding more impatient this time. Keegan knew he'd do it too.

"I'll be out in two seconds!" Keegan looked at himself with disapproval in the mirror, sighing as he pinched his stomach again.

Merrick had remained quiet most of the time they were waiting for Keegan, looking forward to getting out and just having a good night with the guys. Everyone knows Keegan takes the longest to get ready, but this is just getting ridiculous.

"Hey, why don't you two head out and get the party started? I'll see what's taking him and we'll meet you guys there," Merrick said, slightly worried about what's taking so long. Merrick and Keegan had always been close, their relationship dancing the line between romantic and not. Quite frankly, Merrick was okay with it either way. Keegan was one of his best friends; they'd been through so much together and he would care about him either way.

"I was hoping you'd say that eventually," Rorke grinned. "Keegan, if I find out you've been jerking it in there and making us wait, your ass is mine, you sick bastard!" He called out in a mocking tone, glad to finally leave. Elias chuckled while walking out of the room while Merrick got up and headed towards Keegan's room.

Merrick knocked softly on the door and waited a moment before saying: "Hey Keegan? It's me. What's up?" He kept his tone as soft as he could. No response. "Keegan don't be like that, c'mon it's just me." Merrick heard some shuffling but the door remained closed. He stood there in silence for a few minutes to make Keegan think he left. Then he opened the door and walked in. What he saw nearly broke his heart.

Keegan was still standing in front of the mirror, poking and pinching at his tummy fat with an expression that was hard to read. A mixture of anger and. . .what was that? Sadness? Desperation? Keegan simply ignored the intruder in his room. After recovering from his initial shock, Merrick found his words. "Keegan? What are you doing?"

"It's gross. I hate it. I just feel. . ." he paused, unsure of what to say. ". . . icky," Keegan gestured to his stomach, his face scrunching up at the last sentence. He kept his eyes glued to his reflection.

"What are you talking about? You look fine!" Merrick said, rather surprised by Keegan's self consciousness. Is this really why he kept himself locked up in here?

Keegan didn't look convinced. Instead it seemed as though he looked more desperate for reassurance of his appearance. "What's wrong with a little extra padding?" Merrick started toward Keegan. "Hey, it'll keep you warmer when you have to sit out in the cold saving our asses so we don't get compromised. Besides. . ." He trailed off, nervously rubbing the back of his neck, face starting to flush. "I think it's kinda cute."

At that, Keegan finally tore his eyes from his own reflection to look at Merrick through the mirror, eyes full of hope. "Really? You mean that?" Keegan asked, turning to face Merrick, his cheeks adopting a tint of pink of their own.

"Well yeah. Keegan, a little bit of fluff ain't bad. I think it looks good on you. More Keegan for me to have to myself!" Merrick put his arms around Keegan's waist, playfully pinching at his belly at the last sentence.

Keegan's face was really reddening as he ducked his head at first, a big smile apparent on his face. He reached his hands up to rest on top of Merrick's, lightly intertwining their fingers together. Merrick nuzzled his chin in the crook of Keegan's neck, taking advantage of the inch or so he had on Keegan.

"Yeah, I guess a little extra ain't so bad," Keegan sighed, smile still plastered on his face. Merrick lifted his head and craned his neck to give Keegan a quick peck on the cheek.

As much as Merrick wanted to stay like that, he knew they should get going. "Alright, get your shirt on, we gotta go before the other two start getting suspicious," he said, kissing Keegan's temple one last time before playfully patting his stomach and walking out of the room. Keegan stared at himself in the mirror with a smile before walking over to his bed to grab his shirt.

He walked out of his room while pulling his shirt over his head and nearly runs into Merrick, who puts his hands on Keegan's shoulders to steady himself. "Woah, woah easy buddy. You can't be running into people already, you haven't even had anything to drink yet!" Keegan laughed at that, keeping eye contact, failing to notice Merrick's hands lingering on his shoulders. Once he realized, Keegan ducked his head again, feeling his cheeks heating up again. Merrick realized why Keegan was acting in such a way and promptly removed his hands, muttering an apology as he looked at his shoes.

Keegan chuckled a little again, then grabbed one of Merrick's hands, loosely intertwining their fingers together, which caught him off guard. He looked up and opened his mouth to say something but was cut off.

"Thank you," Keegan said, staring down again.

"What? Oh, no problem. It was nothing real-" Merrick was cut off by Keegan's lips. The kiss was short but oh so sweet. He was caught off guard by Keegan yet again but was quick to return the gesture. Keegan's lips were soft against his, slightly chapped, but Merrick didn't seem to care much. It was over in a matter of seconds and they both wanted more but knew it would have to wait.

"Okay, we really should get going now. Maybe if we're lucky though, the other two will already be intoxicated enough to not interrogate us on why we took so long," Keegan said after breaking the kiss. Merrick chuckled, draping his arm around Keegan's shoulders as they headed down the hallway to enjoy the rest of the night.


End file.
